Also, unlike other car makers that are also quite new in the industry, Tata managed to not distinguish itself from the bunch.

Their models were often lacking any kind of elegance in their design and styling, while performance was at best mediocre. Still their vehicles were cheap and that is what matters in India, as a result they managed to slowly grow and gain international attention.

Tata has now gotten to a point where they can seriously start thinking about running against other industry giants, and the new Tuff Concept they unveiled in Australia clearly shows how far they have gone.

Born from a partnership with Fusion Automotive, the fresh(er) design came from the mind of Holden Special Vehicles chief designer, Julian Quincey. It has an aggressive look about it, making it look like an bulked up Tata Xenon. LED DTRL were fitted to it, along with a winch and towing hooks. For a complete off-roading package, a snorkel and 20 inch wheels were also installed to the Tata Tuff.

The post Tata unveiled their Tuff Concept in Australia appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

The demands of an emerging market are considerably different from what the US market buyers want so despite some rumors, the Nano never crossed oceans.

Some of the interest faded when situations where very poor reports regarding its safety came in. That’s not to say it went away altogether.

This time around we’re finally getting round to see what the Tata Nano on American shores. Even if it’s the second generation model, it is going to be available.

The fact that it’s not the original Nano means that there’s an updated styling bit to consider as well as some equipment.

Let’s be honest, nobody would sell a barn door-like equipped car in the US and nobody would want to buy such a thing.

Standard equipment on the US prone Nano will be stuff like power steering and traction control. The last one seems like fun, there isn’t any grunt under the bonnet you know.

The two-cylinder, 37 horsepower engine isn’t going to be transferred into the new car either. The US will get a punchier engine but exactly which one isn’t sure yet.

Dealer options are also unclear. That said, the Indian company does own Jaguar and Land Rover and they’re pretty well established in the US.

Provided everything is worked out, the US version of the Tata Nano will come in around 2014 and it should keep its final price down to less than 10.000 USD.

The post Second generation Tata Nano to be sold in the US appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

There are plenty of examples of how the emerging markets have been producing cars you may want to buy nowadays but now Tata is unveiling a new Hybrid concept.

The new model is called the Tata Manza Hybrid Concept and it’s probably the first such vehicle to look decent.

Sure it’s a concept so it may be a little bit over-rated but the looks of this new model is simple. It’s not a pious hybrid wannabe and it’s not a feeble machine with an incredible exterior.

Making up the internal combustion part of the drivetrain in the new Tata concept is a 1.0 liter turbo diesel engine with 60 horsepower on tap.

That is then teamed to an electric motor with 45 kW of power via a new type of CVT transmission so it can give you the best out of its Li-Ion batteries.

Details are still rather sketchy, but the Indian company claims their new Manza Hybrid Concept also features a start/stop system, regenerative braking and even a set of roof-mounted solar panels.

No pricing figures were mentioned but bringing all this stuff together doesn’t sound that cheap if we’re honest. Also, no mention of range when running on the electric motor is available.

When burning up diesel, the 44 liter tank can cover just over 620 miles on a single fill-up. The fuel economy seems decent, just like the rest of the car.

The post Tata Manza Hybrid Concept unveiled appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

In doing so Tata’s Nano got its first estimated price for sales in North America and I have to say, it’s not looking all that great.

If you’re an Indian a brand new Tata Nano can cost as little as 2000 dollars to you and given the simplicity of this vehicle that seems fair.

When the Indians ship their little car to America the cost was projected to get bumped up to between $7.000 and $8.000.

The pricing announcement came from Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Indian company and it included an important mention.

At this sort of price the Tata Nano will no longer be crummy little hatchback it is at the moment, but an actual car that U.S. consumers would accept.

This probably means that the U.S. version of the Tata Nano will more likely be a lot likely similar in design language to their Tata Pixel concept.

The concept looks of the Tata Pixel will most likely not affect the engineering integrity and the low-cost production of the Indian car.

The post U.S. version of Tata Nano price spoken of appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

That’s odd, because the ultra low cost car wasn’t exactly going to be bought all over the world.

Even so, when the cheap Indian car hit the market it sold like hot cakes and for a while it would seem like nothing would stop orders for the Nano from coming in.

That nothing occurred a few months down the line in two forms. First of all, Tata started bumping the price on it which lead to a slight decrease in sales.

Secondly, numerous incidents of Tata Nanos being engulfed in flames due to issues with the exhaust or some electrics lead to a serious drop in sales.

Tata tried to compensate for these issues with a “free safety upgrade” but things didn’t really pick up.

In order to bump sales a lot further from where they stand today the Indians came up with a new “incentive”. The Tata Nano will be offered with a considerable warranty pack.

The warranty spans four years and will be retrofitted to the original 70.000 buyers as well. Hopefully this will help Tata sell more than the 509 units the managed last month but I promise not to be bothered if they don’t succeed at doing so.

The post Tata Nano gets a four year warranty appeared first on Ultimate Car Blog | The Latest Car News, Reviews, Tuning.

What’s weird about this is the fact that Tata insists on this not being a recall for the Nano.

I just don’t know how else to put this but it is actually a recall, isn’t it. I’m not very certain on why Tata insist on calling this a free safety upgrade.

Apparently, the Indians refuse to call it a recall because the analysis of the fire problems the Tata Nano had reached a result. It seems that even though the Tata Nano has been littering the media with fire incidents they weren’t actually manufacture related.

According to the company, the problems that lead to fire were related to after market modifications. Either added trinkets to the exhaust system caught fire.

The same thing with the electrics. After market stereos and such also lead to electrical heat ups that lead to the same fire problems for the Tata Nano.

So if you look at it from such a point of view you can see why Tata don’t call this a recall. Even so, if you’re an Indian manufacturer and don’t prepare your cars to get the mods anything in India gets and later on correct it, I’d say you’re doing a recall.

The so called safety upgrade means Tata dealers will upgrade the electric insulation and the exhaust protection as well.

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